With Winter's thaw, a flood of conventions deluges the Great Lakes region. And this year, I've cast restraint aside and dived right in to be swept along in the flow of events.

The ice broke in March, when six of us headed east to Cold Wars for our annual weekend of gaming and fun. I showed off my newly-painted Khmer army in the DBA tournaments. Although victory wasn't always mine, I did win lots of praise for their appearance. We drank lots of beer, ate pie at the Lapp Family Restaurant, sold stuff at the flea market, and seemed to do more "having fun" than actually gaming! I even came in "under budget" in the Dealers Area (perhaps knowing what lay ahead).

A month later, several of us drove down to Great Lakes' newest oneday con, Warband, in the Cincinnati area. We played in Jim William's DBA Tournament and visited with Great Lakes friends. There were a number of interesting games going on, and the cozy Knights of St. John Hall was the perfect size for the first-time, one day event.

My drinking companion, er...gaming buddy from Indiana, Steve Smith, had been bugging me to attend Little Wars in Chicago. So, this year I made the drive to check out HMGS Midwest's flagship con. It was impressive. In my opinion, though, the most noticeable difference between it and Advance the Colors was in the quantity of dealers. Some of the big names are there at Little Wars, such as Wargames and Old Glory, in addition to the familiar RLBPS, George Nafziger, area hobby shops, etc. There are at least twice as many dealer tables as ATC, but the attendance seemed only a tad more. The events were neat, but no more so than ATC. Food for thought...

Up in May will be the double shot of Columbus' Capcon and Toledo's Drums Along the Maumee 4. At Capcon, we're getting together a "Great Lakes Area" inside the Main Hall, featuring historical miniatures events. So far, Jack Shaw, Chris and Pat Velas, Terry Hollern and Jeff Russ will be putting on events. I will man a table to sign up new members, pass out information and maybe even sell a T-shirt of two. So, when Drums rolls around two weeks later, I'll be ready for a "play break" and a good time.

Of course, the river keeps right on flowing. June brings Origins, July Warparty, August the 2nd Annual Big Battle DBA Tournament at the Tin Soldier in Dayton ... help! I'm being swept away...

Check out these GL events at Capcon in May!
`San Juan Hill,' 25mm Piquet (GM: Chris Velas)
`15mm World War II,' using Piquet rules (GM: Pat Velas) `Ancient Naval miniatues,' (GM: Terry Hollem)
`Die, Foreign Devils!' Boxer Rebellion, Amer. Empire (GM: Jeff Russ) `Hot High Ground' Modern Microarmor, Home rules (GM: Jeff Russ)
`Glory In the Arena,' 54mm Gladiators (GM: Jack Shaw)